The Latest: California fire forces insurer into insolvency
Posted Nov 30, 2018 6:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PARADISE, Calif. — The Latest on a Northern California wildfire (all times local):
5:30 p.m.
State regulators are taking over an insurance company that can’t pay out all expected claims after a massive Northern California wildfire.
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said Friday that destruction from the fire has pushed Merced Property & Casualty Company to insolvency. A judge is expected to approve liquidation proceedings Monday.
The company could not immediately be reached for comment.
Insurance department spokeswoman Nancy Kincaid says the department doesn’t know how many people affected by the Camp Fire held insurance from the company or the total amount of claims.
The fire that sparked Nov. 8 destroyed more than 13,000 single family homes and decimated the town of Paradise, population 27,000.
People who lost their homes in the fire will still have their claims met by the California Insurance Guarantee Association.
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5:15 p.m.
Officials in Paradise are imposing nightly curfews to restrict access to public areas left standing after a catastrophic wildfire destroyed most of the town earlier this month.
The Northern California town’s director of emergency services cited public safety in declaring the curfew that begins Thursday and will be in effect from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.
Those caught disobeying may get arrested. The curfew does not apply to law enforcement officers, emergency personnel or news reporters.
While residents have not been allowed back into Paradise, evacuees in surrounding communities have been going back with police escorts.
The nation’s deadliest wildfire in a century began on Nov. 8 and destroyed most of Paradise in a day. The death toll stands at 88 and thousands of buildings are gone.
The Associated Press
